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City bonuses head overseas - 15 January 2007

If you’re not buying green property, you may just turn green with envy. Latest research, carried out by Populus on behalf of property agent Pure International, has shown that over half of the City of London’s bonus-earners are planning on investing in property overseas in the next year.

The research shows that 51% of the highest-earners in the country will be following the lead of the rest of the country by wanting to have a bolt-hole overseas – the difference is that most of them can probably afford to buy the properties that mere mortals can only dream of. To rub salt into the wounds, with the record bonuses awarded to the top executives this year, a large number of them will be able to buy without having to resort to a mortgage.

Of course, this special group of people have more than one reason to buy overseas, and perhaps unsurprisingly, many of them are looking to protect their high earnings. Of those in the survey, 84% said that they are planning or considering relocating abroad for tax purposes at some point in the future.

Favoured destinations for our City high-flyers to jet off to were France (28%), the US (23%) and Italy (21%), while Spain at 19% was followed closely by Switzerland (18%) and Canada (15%). Pure cite the example of one of their buyers, a business manager for a large investment bank, who bought on one of their developments in Switzerland as his first overseas investment in order to diversify his portfolio. In using his 2007 bonus as a down payment, one of the major advantages for this investor was that he has three years until completion of the project to raise the full capital for the outright purchase.

The development in question, The National in Montreux, sold out its 17 apartments in little over two months since its release in Novmeber 2006. With prices starting at £276,000 and climbing to over £2.3million, it seems that bonus-earners are looking to this corner of Europe as a potential investment.

There is also evidence that City buyers are not flippant with their money, and do extensive research before buying – an example all overseas buyers should follow. Investment banker Frank Copplestone bought a luxury four bedroom villa on the La Heredia de Monte Mayor development in the southern Spanish region of Andalucia.

“I first visited this development two years ago, and just fell in love with the place”, says Frank, “I chose a plot at the top of the development, right on the lip of the valley – and that’s where my villa was built.” He also states that the fact the villa was being built by La Perla Living was a major factor in persuading him to buy on the development.

On top of this, many City buyers tend to stick together. Frank has introduced other high-earners to the area. “Two of my friends have also bought plots of land at La Heredia de Monte Mayor, where they are now having villas built, while the others have all bought properties elsewhere along the coast.”

Contacts:
www.pureintl.com
www.laperlainternationalliving.com

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